How ‘Real’ Do We Want Women’s Bodies?

It works every time: A brand makes a statement about beauty standards in an ad campaign, slaps a hashtag on it, and gleefully watches consumers rally around their advertising activism. Is this popular feminism, or just a canny marketing ploy working under the guise of popular feminism?

In Lane Bryant’s video for its new lingerie line, Cacique, curvy models with strikingly beautiful faces caress their heaving breasts and zaftig hips. “Honey, have you seen all this?” “How boring would it be if we were all the same?”They giggle and shimmy for the camera, heavy-eyed and slack-mouthed. “I’m no angel,” they say in chorus, looking down their noses at Victoria’s Secret’s leggy, size-2 “angels.”

“Our ‘#ImNoAngel’ campaign is designed to empower ALL women to love every part of herself,” Lane Bryant chief executive Linda Heasley said in the statement. “Lane Bryant firmly believes that she is sexy and we want to encourage her to confidently show it, in her own way.”

Victoria’s Secret, in their thin-shamed tower of shiny panties, did not respond to requests for comment.